Musk reported on Trump's request for SpaceX to bring back the stranded Starliner astronauts

US President Donald Trump has requested that the two astronauts of the Starliner spacecraft stranded on the international space station (ISS) be returned to Earth. This was announced by American entrepreneur and politician Ilon Musk on January 29.

"The US president has asked SpaceX to bring home two astronauts stranded on the space station as soon as possible," Musk said in a message published on his page on the social network X (former Twitter).

Musk also noted that he will fulfill this request as soon as possible. In addition, the American entrepreneur reproached the former White House administration headed by Joe Biden that they left the consideration of this issue for a long time.

Earlier, on December 17, it was reported that the crew of SpaceX Crew 10 will go to the International Space Station (ISS) no earlier than March 2025, after which the members of the Starliner crew stuck there will be sent to Earth.

Starliner was launched on June 5 from Cape Canaveral in Florida after being rescheduled twice. Astronauts Wilmore and Suni Williams were scheduled to stay at the orbiting station for eight days after docking with the ISS.

On June 14, it was reported that the spacecraft failed to undock from the ISS after several malfunctions were discovered on the spacecraft. In addition to helium leaks, four engines failed during the Starliner flight. Experts indicated that NASA would need to launch a rescue mission.

On August 24, NASA head Bill Nelson said that the two astronauts who were stuck in space for 80 days would remain there for several more months. The malfunctioning capsule will have to return to Earth on a SpaceX spacecraft in early 2025.

Then, on September 1, it was reported that astronaut Barry Eugene Wilmore heard a "strange noise" coming from a speaker inside the Starliner spacecraft. The situation caused concern at NASA, so it was decided to send the spacecraft back to Earth without a crew. The next day, NASA spokeswoman Cheryl Warner said that the strange noise that Starliner was making was due to acoustic feedback from the speaker.

On Sept. 6, the stranded Starliner undocked from the ISS and headed toward Earth without a crew. After a six-hour flight, the spacecraft successfully landed at the White Sands Missile Range in the U.S. state of New Mexico.